


Under The Light Of The Fireworks

by rex101111



Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Baiken getting tricked into having fun the horror, Birthday, F/M, Fluff, Realizing that people care is harder than you would think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 07:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18339323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rex101111/pseuds/rex101111
Summary: Baiken is tricked into humoring Anji by going along with his plan to join a festival that happens to fall on her birthday. As the day goes on, and Anji pulls her through more and more of the festival, she actually starts to enjoy herself. The day is long, but full of joy. More than she could have imagined. More then she thought she deserved.





	Under The Light Of The Fireworks

**Author's Note:**

> FUCKING HELL WOULD YOU BELIEVE THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE IN MARCH??? Like this is a super late birthday fic for Baiken that was supposed to be another chapter of "swipes", meaning short and sweet, but somehow ended up...over 11k words long oh God. I blame Sevi007 and broken-clover on here and on tumblr, Sevi for infecting me with whatever demon possessed her to write two super long one shots one after the other, and clover for posting a bunch of really cool B-day headcannons for Baiken that I simply had to include here.
> 
> Okay, super long, super corny, super fluffy.
> 
> ENJOY!

Anji had a way of moving when he was happy that more like floating than any kind of walking. His feet barely touch the ground as he flies from place to place as his attention changes focus.

Finding himself in the middle of a festival always seemed to magnify that trait, Anji practically _soared_ in the midst of the throng of people standing around near food stalls and playing simple games.

Baiken would have thought it endearing, if she wasn't the one being dragged by the arm as he did so. The only reason she wasn't yanking her forearm out of his grip and finding the nearest bar before he dislocated her shoulder in his exuberance was because he _somehow_ managed to get her to promise to play along with him until nightfall.

Baiken would have rather let her birthday pass with a minimum of fuss, march 5th was just another day, just another sunrise, but leave it to Anji to want to _celebrate._

She should have known what he was planning when they first reached the town two days ago, the signs of people setting up some sort of party evident on every street corner and store front. People milling about smiling as children ran between their legs in uncontained excitement.

Somehow he managed to keep the façade that they were just stopping for a much needed rest after a grueling few weeks of travel and job (and head) hunting going until they reached their inn room.

Just as she was about to lay her head down for a short nap he sprang his trap, "Baiken, you know your birthday is coming up, right?" His faced stretched into a fond grin, "or did you forget again?"

"What if I did?" She groused irritably, her head a few measly inches away from sweet, downy relief. "It's just another day in the year Anji, let it go." She glanced at him to see his arms crossed over his chest while he leveled an unimpressed look at her. "Oh _knock it off."_ She waved her hand in his direction, not in the mood for his pouting. "If you want to make a thing of it just let me sleep and we'll go to a bar tomorrow evening."

"We did that _last_ year Baiken."

"I know, and what a wonderful time we had."

"Be serious." He admonishes, sitting himself on his side of the futon. "It's not just _any_ day Baiken, its one day in the year that's all about _you."_ Anji smiled and spread his arms as he spoke a bit more passionately, "a day to be happy and _indulge!_ We can go bar hopping, see the sights in the town, maybe even… _join the festival?"_

Baiken was nodding absentmindedly as he went on, long used to his tendency to go on tangents but stopped and whirled her gaze to him when he mentioned a _festival. "_ …Anji."

"Yes?"

"Where did you hear about there being a festival in town?"

Anji was silent for a long minute, clearing his throat before he gave out an utterly unconvincing smile. "I…heard some of the inn staff talking about it!"

"No you didn't."

"A few children were raving about it on our way here!"

"Try again."

"…there was a sign?"

"Anji."

"A few weeks back," he relents with sagging shoulders, smile sheepish. "I heard a few locals talk about it after we finished up that job," he gestured vaguely with his hand, attempting to remember the exact one. "You know…the one with the smuggled rhinos?"

Baiken was still having trouble trying to parse how in the hell that lunatic managed to stuff those animals into a storage locker without anyone catching wise, but she nodded absentmindedly.

"Right, well, I asked about it while on the way back from getting our payment squared away, and imagine my surprise when the date happened to line up with your special day!" He grinned with all his teeth at her with this announcement. "What are the odds?"

"Not low enough for my taste that's what."

Anji scoffed affectionately at her. "Come _on_ Baiken, it's serendipity!"

Baiken turned away from him, pulling out her pipe and lighting it as she glared at the wall. "It's a pain my ass."

There was silence, for a moment, Anji apparently taking a moment to choose his words for the first time that night. After a minute or so of this, the samurai heard soft foot falls coming towards her, before she felt the weight of Anji's back on her own as he sat down and leaned on her.

"Would it be so bad?" He muttered quietly. "Having fun on your birthday?"

Baiken sighed. "Anji, I am not going to drag myself around that many noisy, drunk, rowdy assholes stuffing themselves with cheap food just to have _fun."_ She pushed that last word between her teeth with another puff of smoke. "If you want to go, be my guest, but there's no way you can get me to join in on all that bull-"

"You owe me."

Baiken stopped short, something in his tone…awfully familiar. She turned her head to look at the back of his, eye narrow with suspicion, "what did you just say?" 

"That job from a while back, with the rhinos." He turned his head so she could see the sneaky little smirk that snaked its way onto his face when she wasn't looking. "You owe me."

She _knew_ that damnable smirk, that smirk he gave to people he conned and needled for information. The smirk he had when he was opposite someone he was about to metaphorically lift by the ankles and _shake_ until what he wanted from them shook loose.

A smirk he had when the smug bastard _knew_ he was getting _exactly_ what he was looking for.

She had been on the receiving end of that smirk on more than a handful of occasions, none of them pleasant, none of them she managed to escape. Still, she gritted her teeth, determined not to go down without a fight. "Anji-"

"If I hadn't pushed you out of the way of that _rampaging beast,_ " He effected dramatically, the smirk unmoving as he went on. "You would be one lung short, on top of everything else."

"I _swear_ Anji don't you-"

"What an ignominious fate that would have been for the lone samurai, done in by an animal so blinded by tranquilizers and dehydration it couldn't tell the difference between a tree and a wall."

"You can't be _serious-"_

"Good thing I was there and acted as quickly as I did." He turned to her fully, smirk growing into a toothy, shark-like grin. "In fact, such bravery and quick thinking deserves a reward, methinks."

Baiken frowned and scowled for all she was worth in the face of the overwhelming presence of that grin, but she knew she was beaten when he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers and his gaze sunk into hers.

She sighed with sagging shoulders, " _fine."_ She glared full force at him, the display having a minimal effect on the suddenly giddy dancer. "But _only_ until sundown, then I'm finding the closest bar and drinking myself fully blind."

"Deal!"

So here she was, getting dragged from stall to stall, a heavy bag of greasy food in her hand, a piece of overly sugary candy held between her teeth, and a headache growing behind her nose.

"It's too bad no one is selling any paper fans." Anji lamented as he munched on one of his own snacks. "Used to love running around with those as a kid."

"Three hours to sundown Anji." Baiken muttered, eyebrow twitching as a few screaming kids ran past her throwing freshly fallen leaves as they went. A few yellow leaves stuck themselves in her hair, Baiken taking a deep breath through her nose. "Three hours, don't waste them by being an ass."

Anji tutted and laughed as he pulled the leaves from her hair, "that's no look for a birthday girl." The scowl she sent him bounced right off his cheery grin. "Come on now, we still have a lot to see!"

Baiken groaned as he moved on and she followed. "It better not be another damn food stall, I have enough oily shit in this bag to grease a truck engine."  She bit through the hard candy she held in her teeth with a loud crunch that scattered a few rowdy kids that got a bit too close. "No candy either, I can feel my teeth rotting out of my skull."

 "Got you covered." He took the bag from her and used his free hand to hold it and guide her through the crowd, waving hello to people that passed them. A few older couples, hand in hand as they were, gave them encouraging smiles and waves that Baiken ignored on principle along with the heat in her cheeks. "I got _just_ the thing to get you to enjoy yourself."

Baiken scoffed but said nothing, merely following Anji as he leads her by the hand. Her eyes wondered as she did so, taking in the sight of people with colorful masks and families sharing food with each other. Game stall owners laughing as the various guests failed the simple tasks but gave them small prizes for trying.

It almost made a tiny smile pull on her lips. Almost.

As soon as she turned her gaze back to Anji he stopped with a smile and looked to the side, "there!" She followed his line of sight to see another game stall, the one where you were tasked with knocking over a stack of bottles with purchased balls. "Just what I was looking for!"

There was currently a pair of very young children, a boy and a girl no older than 10, possibly siblings, giving it their all to hit the bottles. Baiken and Anji stood by quietly and waited their turn, the samurai unamused by the dancer's idea. "Seriously Anji?" She whispered so the children and the stall owner wouldn't hear. "You know these games are _always_ rigged."

"Probably." Anji agreed with a whisper of his own. "Doesn't mean we can't give it a try…besides." His tricky smirk came back. "If it _is_ rigged, the owner probably didn't have people like _us_ in mind when he fixed it."

Baiken blinked at him, a bit taken aback, before chuckling. "Yeah, could be good stress relief."

"Among other things." Anji laughed lowly, watching the girl line up her last shot more carefully than before, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she squinted at her target, and tossing her ball as hard as she could. "Good one." Anji muttered approvingly as the ball hit the stack of bottles dead center…and failed to make them fall.

"Sand in the bottles." Baiken whispered lowly, so as not to be heard over the loud despairing of the children and the smug condolence of the man behind the table. "Just enough to weigh them down from being knocked over, but still enough to make them move slightly so nobody says he glued the bottoms."

"That is no way to run a game." Anji scolded reproachfully, walking closer to the stall with a paper thin smile on his face, "a lesson is in order, methinks."

Baiken followed closely at his heels, already smirking in anticipation

"C'mon mister!" The boy pleaded with the owner, "just one more ball?"

"Forget it!" The man waved off the children as they looked up at him with shining eyes. "If you want another go, you pay up like good little brats." He scowled at them like they were trash stuck on the heel of his boot. "Otherwise, scram!"

"But we won't have enough money for food!" The girl argued, a hopeless scowl on her face. "We already spent so much money here!"

"Not my problem." The owner sneered at her, fish eyes squinting, before lifting his gaze to see Anji and Baiken, his face morphing in a blink to a welcoming tone. "Welcome folks! Give me just a moment and I'll be at your service!" He leaned down to bare his teeth at the children, as if the two other adults couldn't see him. "Now _scram I said!_ You're bothering costumers!"

"But-!"

"Kids." Anji said calmly, putting a gentle hand on the girl's head, smiling serenely. "Let us have a turn while you think about what to do with your money." He looked back at the stall owner, his smile sharpening with every word. "I promise we won't be long."

The children looked at each other confusedly before nodding and taking a few steps back for the dancer and samurai to stand in front of the stall.

"Hello and welcome to my game!" The owner said jovially, as if nothing happened. "Simply knock the bottles over and win a prize!" He pointed to the various shelves and stands and hooks carrying all sorts of rewards, from dolls to keychains and even a wooden practice sword. "The less balls it takes the bigger the prize!"

"Sounds delightful!" Anji grinned easily, eyes sparkling with excitement. "How much for a shot then?"

"Its three world dollars for 5 tries!" The owner provided a small bowl with the tiny plastic balls, setting it on the counter in front of him. "Get it in one shot for the grand prize!"

"Marvelous." Anji produced the needed money from his pocket, and grabbed one of the balls, aiming for the stack, a sharp gleam in his eye. "Here goes…"

First try missed by a wide margin.

Second got a bit closer.

Third and fourth just barely missed, the owner smiled encouragingly.

Anji moved his last shot between his fingers for a moment, as if considering, before shrugging and flicking the ball forward, hitting the bottle stack straight on with some measure of force.

The bottles wobbled for a short moment before settling, remaining upright.

"Darn." Anji snapped his fingers in exaggerated frustration, "thought I had that one."

"No worries sir!" The owner assured with a crocked smile, "you can always try again!" He turned his gaze towards the samurai, his smile stretching across his face in what he must have thought was a show of kindness but reminded Baiken of a rat looking to steal a block of cheese. "Or maybe our _beautiful_ lady here would like to have a go?"

Baiken rubbed her chin, making a show of deliberating by scratching her chin and humming low in her throat, before shrugging, "why not? Might be fun."

Anji slid close to the owner, cupping a hand over his mouth as he whispered loud enough for Baiken to hear, "you know," he started conspicuously with a wide smile. "It just so happens that it's her birthday today!"

The owner's eyebrow's climbed over his hairline, "that right?"

"I know! What are the odds!" Anji very pointedly ignored Baiken's scoff. "So, there any chance for a small kindness?"

The owner narrowed his eyes at the dancer, "you don't expect me to just _give_ a prize away do you?" He gestured towards his selection again, nose pointing at the ceiling. "I still need to make money tonight you know."

"Oh I'm sure you've made _plenty."_

"Sorry miss, what did you-"

" _What she said!"_ Anji interjected quickly and a bit too loudly. "Is that she's sure we can reach a compromise." Anji snapped his fingers. "Oh! Okay here's an idea for you!" He pointed at the bottle stack. "You said if I managed to knock that stack over on the first shot, I'd win the _grand prize,_ right?"

"Yeah?"

"So here's my suggestion," he pointed at Baiken. "If _she_ can manage it in one shot, you give her…" He held up a hand and moved it in the air for a moment as he thought. "Two? Yes, two." He held up two fingers with a guileful grin. "Two prizes if she can knock that stack over in one shot, sound fair dear sir?"

Than the owner looked at her. _Really_ looked. His eyes going from her clothes, to her sword (Anji couldn't convince her to part with it), to her eye (and eye _patch)_ , to the stump of her arm, and back to her clothes (lingering on her chest as if the missing eye made her blind, she made a note to punch him on her way to the bar), before looking back up.

He had the look of someone who thought he was going to get away with something, Baiken had to make a very concerned effort not to smirk. "That it _does."_ The grin that climbed up his face made the smirk harder to hide. "In fact, how about we make it _three?"_ Anji raised an eyebrow at him. "It _is_ her birthday, as you said, so why not?"

Anji laughed, "oh sir, you are _far_ too kind!"

 "Though you'll pay double." The owner continued with the same grin and pleasant voice. "Still running a business here, you see."

"How about I pay triple," Baiken offered as she stepped forward with a sharp little smile of her own. "And you give me _four?"_

You could practically see the dollar signs light up in his eyes. "It's a deal!" He produced another bowl with gusto and moved aside to present Baiken with her target. "Feel free to buy as many as you want miss! Though the price will remain the same, of course." He chuckled lightly. "Now go on! Give it your best-!"

A rush of air passed him, making his clothes billow violently around him, followed by a crash glass and wood.

"-shot?" He looked behind him to see a horrifying sight, the bottles utterly destroyed along with the wooden table they were set on. The only remains being a few scant shards of glass…and several tiny piles of sand. 

There was a small, circular hole in the back wall of the stall. Someone further back in the city complained of a broken window.

"H-how in the-"

"Got a good throwing arm." Baiken said blithely, face the very picture of content, smug innocence. "So, that was, what? Fifteen?" She reached into her kimono and retrieved two ten dollar bills. "Keep the change."

"You- Y-you-!"

"We had a deal I believe." Anji interjected, ignoring how the look of shock on the owner's face gave way to anger. "Four prizes right?" He lowered his head so he was nose to nose with the man, grinning as his face went so red it glowed. "Don't you try to weasel out~"

"Like hell!" The man flinched away from the grinning dancer, clenching his teeth. "Y-you two _cheated!"_ He pointed a finger at Baiken, who was _horribly_ unimpressed with his attempt to be intimidating, voice cracking in outrage. "That throw wasn't _normal!_ You must have used some trick to do that! I'm not giving you _shit!"_

"Ever heard of throwing stones?" Anji said lowly, his grinning face stone like as he straightened and looked down the bridge of his nose at the suddenly sheepish stall owner. "Before you start accusing people of _cheating…_ I suggest you check your house isn't made of glass." His grin turned razor sharp. "Or, rather, full of _sand."_

The man's face turned purple, eyes finally darting to the piles of sand littering his stall. "That's-! I don't know-!"

"Don't lie to me." Anji muttered, his grin lowering into an indulgent reproach. "Or I might be tempted to call a security guard over to check this place out." He turned away and made a show of looking through the passing crowd of people for the telltale shine of a badge. "I _wonder_ what they would have to say about all this?"

"Fine!" The owner hissed, eyes darting left and right to look for any guards nearby before sighing in defeat, "fine. You win, just take your damn prizes."

"What was that _grand prize_ you were going on about?" Baiken asked, clearing her throat to stop from chuckling at how thoroughly Anji and her tore this scam apart. "That'll be the first."

The owner seethed with contempt as he went to the back wall, glaring at the hole Baiken left as he passed it, before retrieving the wooden sword. He practically shoved it in her face as he returned. "Here."

Baiken took the sword with a scoff, opening her mouth to complain about this so called _grand prize_ when she took a closer look. Not just any wooden sword, but a _bokken._ _Tachi_ sized and smoothed to a near mirror shine, the wood flawless and well crafted.

She hadn't seen one in _decades._

"Where did you get this?"

"Some colony escapee traded it to me for a place to stay a few years back." The owner grumbled as he crossed his arms. "Said it was worth more than gold, forgot to mention selling Japanese goods outside the colony was _illegal_ at the time _."_ He shook his head. "Still, works as an eye catcher doesn't it?"

Baiken glared at him as she placed the sword in her _obi_ with care, it's weight felt right next to her katana. "it was wasted on you."

"Whatever." The owner waved her off and glared at Anji. "Three more prizes, hurry up."

"Alright," Anji made a pacifying gesture with a chuckle, and a wink in Baiken's direction, before he leaned in and looked through the selection before he grinning and pointed at a small, rabbit eared keychain. "That one, if you would please."

Baiken had to choke down a laugh at the scandalized face the owner made. "A _keychain?_ " His face turned a shade of puce. "You put me through all that for a damn _keychain?"_

Anji waved him off pleasantly. "It was the principle of the matter." He raised an eyebrow at him, "besides, where do you get off, getting insulted?" Anji motioned towards the two bills Baiken deposited on the counter which the owner had yet to touch. "You _are_ getting payed, after all."

The man starred at the money as if it burned his house down and pissed on what remained. "For God's sake…" He grabbed the money and glared back at the two. "Just pick the rest of your _prizes,_ " he said the word like it was trying to melt his tongue, "and _get the hell away from me!"_

He took the keychain and flung it at Anji's face. The dancer caught it without flinching.

Anji shrugged with a gentle smile, pocketing his keychain before looking at the samurai, "take the rest, birthday girl, I'll settle with what I have."

The owner choked on thin air but chose to say nothing.

Baiken looked over the selection again, eye nearly glazing over at how utterly _cheap_ this entire thing was; plush animals of various sizes, kitschy keychains, it was tacky enough to make her want to puke.

No wonder those kids were so keen on this place, only children would-

"…Huh." Baiken scratched her chin, ignoring the odd looks the owner and Anji were shooting her, before looking around until her gaze fell on the two kids from before, their eyes shining with admiration. They must have been standing there this entire time, watching and waiting patiently for another go.

Baiken figured that was worth a small reward.

"Hey kids." She called out, the two children snapping to attention, the awe from her throw finally leaving them. Baiken pointed at the prize shelves with a casual stab of her thumb. "Take your pick."

The kid's eyes shone like a firework.

The owner looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

Anji's smile threatened to split his face in half.

(-----)

An hour later, they were both still laughing. Anji's keychain dangling off his finger as he gesticulated with unbidden glee. Baiken's hand rested on her newly acquired _bokken,_ fingers brushing the fine, polished wood of the pommel as she snickered at her partner.

"And his _face!"_ Anji put his forehead in his hands as he nearly giggled at the memory. "Goodness his _face!_ I thought he was going to leap over the counter and try and strangle the both of us!" He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and sighed, "oh I'm _never_ forgetting today, that was _priceless."_

"You're making a scene Anji." She nudged him with her elbow reproachfully, though she was holding in her own laughter. "Calm down, you're acting like we took down a mega death Gear."

"Hardly." Anji waved her off with another chuckle, "that one didn't have _half_ the brain to be Gear." His smile grew as a snort escaped her before she could stop it, which earned him a harder elbow nudge. "Don't act like you weren't enjoying yourself either," he raised an eyebrow at her with a smirk. "You think I missed that little _ki boost_ you did for that throw?"

She sniffed imperiously, pointing her nose up as she answered blithely, "why kill when you can overkill?"

"Hah!" He shook his head. "Honestly that's your answer for _everything."_

Baiken had a very clever comeback on how that answer tended to be the _right_ one on the tip of her tongue, but a touch to her shoulder clogged her throat. Reflex kicked in a half second, grabbing the hand while she spun on her heel, sending the person who snuck up on her crashing to the ground back first, before drawing her blade and putting the sharp edge to the neck of the…mailman?

"Miss Baiken, I presume?" The mailman groaned up at her, his face straining to display a servile smile through what could only be a haze of pain. "I have a delivery for you…ow." The young man slowly picked himself out of the small crater Baiken threw him into, squeezing his eyes shut in strain before opening it to see an apologetic Anji offering a hand. "Oh, uh, thank you, sir."

"That'll teach you to sneak up on people." He said with an indulgent shake of his head as he helped the man up. "Especially people that could _kill you in their sleep_ , eh?" The delivery boy nodded in a sudden panic, looking behind Anji to see Baiken looking decidedly unapologetic. "Now, you said something about a delivery?"

"Oh! Right!" He reached into a bag hanging off his shoulder, bulging with various parcels and packages, before pulling out a package, covered in colorful wrapping, along with a bright blue ribbon tied in a bow, and just about big enough to require both hands to hold.

It had a small tag attached to the ribbon, reading "happy birthday" written in English cursive.

"The _hell-"_

The Mailman cleared his throat before he started to recite what was obviously a well-rehearsed speech. "The Illyria delivery service, Asian branch, is proud to present Miss Baiken with a birthday parcel!" He started with what Baiken would guess to be his 'costumer service' voice, cloying and cheerful with an undercurrent of being completely done with his lot in life. "This precious gift was sent by one Sir. Bridget, who wishes to tell you he looks forward to your next meeting!"

"Bridget?" Baiken mumbled, a bit taken aback at the mailman's display, she looked at Anji with a questioning eyebrow, "isn't he in _Europe_ or something? How the hell did he find us in some no name town in west China?"

Anji was making a point of fiddling with his rabbit keychain, moving his fingers over the plush pink and white fur.

"…Anji?" Baiken asked, an edge of suspicion resting on her tongue. "How did Bridget know where to send this package?"

Anji was quiet for a moment more, making a few vague hand gestures as he deliberated his answer. "Well…he's rich isn't he?" He asked with an uneasy smile, still not looking at her. "I'm sure he could have pulled a few strings to find out where we were headed."

"…we only decided on this course a few weeks back." She pointed out calmly, the edge growing sharper. "A course we haven't told _anyone about_ …right, Anji?"

"Well," Anji started again, slowly turning his head to look back at the samurai with a nervous grin. "I… _might…_ have sent him a letter a short while after we decided to come here…a letter which," he swallowed a lump in his throat when Baiken started to glare at him. "Which…may have had included a few _fleeting_ details of destination." An awkward second past as he cleared his throat again and looked away. "Might have. Possibly. Maybe."

 _"Anji-_ "

"Excuse me?" The delivery man spoke up nervously, looking between the two of them before clearing his throat. "Are you going to accept this parcel? I kinda have, uh, other deliveries to make so…"

"Give it here." Baiken grumbled, taking the package from the young man, rolling her eye as he produced a form and pen for her to sign it. She put the gift under her arm before she made a quick squiggle and no sooner had she returned the pen to him he was off like a shot. No doubt wanting to keep as great a distance as he could from the crazy lady with a sword. "Wimp."

"Can't blame him dear, you tend to leave a certain…" He trailed off as she glared at him again from the corner of her eye. "…Impression." He sighed, "I was careful about that message Baiken, you know how I do things." He put his hands in his sleeves. "Besides, why shouldn't he be able to tell you happy birthday? I happen to remember you took a bit of a shine to him!"

"It wasn't a _shine."_ Baiken groused irritably, though with significantly less heat as she recalled they boy's gentle and carefree smile. "I was just impressed he could handle himself in that situation while wearing a damn nun habit and using a _yo-yo_ as a weapon." She made a quiet hum in the back of her throat as she looked over the ribbon and cheerful tag tied to it. "…he's a tough kid."

"Whatever it was, he sure took a liking to _you."_ He nudged her gently with an elbow. "I know for a fact he would have felt terrible if he found out he missed your birthday."

Baiken was quiet for a second, moving the parcel around in her grip for a moment, considering every crease of wrapping paper and flutter of the ribbon as the late day wind blew it about.

She sighed, and started walking towards a bunch, the sounds of Anji following behind her with light, most certainly dance like, steps accompanying her.

She sat on the far end of the bench, Anji placing himself opposite, and put the package between them on the bench.

She spent a few minutes more looking at it, before Anji cleared his throat.

"…you know it's not going to jump up and bite you, right?"

"I know that." She bit back, eyes still locked on her present. "I just hope the kid didn't send me anything…weird."

"Why would he do that?"

" _Nun habit and Yo-yo Anji."_ She emphasized emphatically, raising her gaze for a moment to meet his before going back to the present. "Plus, he's a rich white kid." She poked the package a few times. "Buddha only knows what goes on in his head."

"If _you're_ not opening it," he grabbed the box himself and took hold of one end of the ribbon, "then _I_ am." He swiftly undid the ribbon, and began working on the wrapping paper, Baiken looking over his shoulder as he slowly revealed the, rather ornate, box under it all. "…Well, his choice of gift box is unique enough."

Unique was one word for it, the lid had an elaborately designed inlay that was colored gold, the rest of the box was a vibrant cerulean shade so bright it hurt the eyes to look at. Baiken had a sneaking suspicion that this little box was probably worth more than she could make in half a year…provided she turned in a bounty every single day for that duration.

"Fucking hell Bridget…" Baiken muttered with a shake of her head, the corner of her mouth twitching up again. "The kid's sweet, but he doesn't have a lick of sense in that head of his."     

"Aww you _do_ care!"

She punched him on the shoulder, "shut up, and give it here." She snatched the box from his grip and put it on her lap, carefully working the lid open, putting it aside before she looked inside. Baiken had honestly _no_ idea what to expect from it, her normally sharp mind drawing a blank.

Murderous intent was easy to pick up, attacks she could see coming from any direction.

Kindness though? How could anyone predict what kindness would look like? From where it would come from and when? And _why?_ Not her, that's for sure.

(All those years with Anji barely made a dent, she realizes, then dismisses the thought before it could weigh on her mind.)

So when she reached in and found her fingers touching paper, she could only pull it out in confusion, "letters?" She asked, taken aback, moving the three pages in her grip back and forth as if to discern a hidden meaning, "he sent me _letters?"_

"That's it?" Anji gaped at the paper, before snatching the box and looking inside, "that boy has more money than sand on a beach! He must have-" He stopped himself as he looked inside, laughing quietly, "ah! There we are!"

He pulled out a small item; a tiny, bright red silk bag tied shut with black string, holding something within that was barely visible from the outside, with something on the front embroidered in golden silk.

(Baiken recognized it as the Chinese character for _hope.)_

"A _bokjumeoni!"_ Anji cried out in delight, facing Baiken with a bright grin as he held the bag up to her. "A Korean good luck charm! Haven't seen one of these in _ages!"_ He looked it over, running his fingers over the fin material that made it up with an appreciative hum, "looks hand sewn too…"

"Korean?" Baiken mumbled, still taken aback at the gift and all the work that must have been involved in making it, "that means-the tuner? When did she-" She held her tongue and looked around, seeing a few people fliting this way and that in front of their bench without really taking notice of them, but deciding not to take a risk. " _He_ find the time to make this?"

"Things have been calmer lately, maybe Kum had found time?"

"Can't be…" Baiken mumbled, looking over the latters in her hand, leafing through them until something caught her eye, the family crest of the Kum family. "Well I'll be _damned,_ since when did Bridget have contacts in _Korea?"_

"Why don't you read the letter and find out?"

Baiken looked between the letter (written in what was clearly rather stiff and unpracticed, but still understandable, Japanese), and her partner holding the small lucky bag between his fingers as he smiled at her encouragingly. "…sure, why the hell not?"

She put the other two pages down and focused on the one with the Kum crest and started reading:

_Dear Miss Baiken, I hope this letter finds you in good spirits and good health-_

"Fucking hell, keigo sounds even stiffer coming from a foreigner-"

"Baiken."

"Fucking _fine_ hold on!"

_-and without undue stress. I myself am fine, and would like to first offer my apologies for being unable to offer my congratulations in person to you, things in my family are…complicated at the moment, and require I remain in Korea for the time being._

_However, when Sir Bridget sent this missive, I knew I must do something for the grand occasion._

"Grand occasion? I got older by a year and he's making it sound like missing a coronation…"

_-Though the gift is small, it is hand made with the finest silk I could acquire. It is partly a gift for your birthday, and as a mark of thanks for keeping my life during the information flare incident. Without you I would surely be dead and my family ravaged beyond repair, I could never thank you enough._

Baiken stopped reading for a moment, rereading the _thank you_ over and over, as if it would start to make sense, before scoffing, "saves my whole civilization from being turned into living weapons and thinks _I_ should be thanked…" She looked aside at Anji, who was wearing a gentle smile. "Oh _shut it._ "

_Inside is medicine and a few pieces of candy, very precious candy I assure you, picked from my personal collection, I hope it is to your taste. The mark on the front is my wish that you never lose hope, in your goals or your future. The Japanese people have a long and storied history of raising from the ashes of death ever stronger._

_I know in my heart that you must be the same._

_Happy Birthday,_

_Kum Haehyun._

Baiken was quiet for a long moment, eyes fixed to the name at the bottom, Kum's _actual_ name, and all the risks she took in putting it there rattling in her head. All for the sake of an honest happy birthday.

Anji offered her the red silk bag to her on an open palm, smile genuine and calm, and she took it, looking closely at the ' _hope'_ on the front, how carefully it was stitched, every part precise as an ink stroke, a tiny smile on her features as she tucked it into an inner pocket of her kimono.

She cleared her throat before she faced Anji again, "anything else in the box?"

"Just this." He held up a small book, about the size for fitting in a pocket, leather bound with the words "enjoy the meal!" scrawled in English on the cover with shaky strokes. Anji opened it and leafed through the pages, another grin (she was starting to lose count of how many he's had today) spreading on his face as he did. "It’s a recipe book!"

"What?" Baiken muttered incredulously, grabbing the book from him and going through it, seeing the connection between the meals as she did. Namely, two connections in particular; one, they were all things easily made on the road with provisions one could find on the move.

And two, they were all _Chinese dishes._

"No way…" Baiken huffed in mixed annoyance and amusement as she looked at one of the two remaining letters and saw, to very little surprise, that it was written in simplified Chinese, along with a small "chibi" cartoon sketch of Jam Kuradoberi herself on the bottom edge of the page. "Huh, been a while…"

"We should have stopped at Hong Kong to see her." Anji said in lighthearted melancholy, taking the recipe book back from Baiken to leaf through the pages again, "just _looking_ at all of these is making my mouth water."

Baiken shrugged her shoulders, she and the restaurateur hadn't had the best interactions in the past, but Anji seemed to really take a shine to her, always insisting on stopping by her place to eat whenever they could. She and her had managed a pretty good rapport on those occasions, even having a few friendly spars…but not nearly friendly enough for Baiken to expect something like _this._

"So," Anji started mildly, absently flipping pages in the pocket book, "are you going to read her letter, or is your Chinese still needing work?"

"I'm _fine."_ She grumbled with a shake of her head, not enjoying the remainder of the headache it was to learn to read Chinese, speaking it was hard enough without confusing Cantonese and Mandarin, and grabbed Jam's letter to start reading, "let's see…"

_Greetings Baiken! Happy birthday! I can't believe you didn't tell me about it! I had to find out from Bridget just a week ago! You wouldn't believe how big of a fright it was to see an English butler in my restaurant while I was about to close! HE DIDN'T EVEN ORDER ANYTHING!_

"Fucking hell even reading this is giving me a headache…"

"Be nice."       

"Say that to me about someone who _hasn’t_ broken one of my ribs by ' _accident.'_ "

_Anyway, I'm sure you and Anji are busy having a good time by the time you get this letter, so I'll be short about it: I figured going from town to town doing mercenary work means not having much of a chance to sit down and eat good food (not as good as **mine** anyway), so I looked through my old family dishes to whip up a good list for you two! And no excuses about 'not having time' to cook them!_

_I've timed myself and each dish should take, at most, half an hour to get ready if you have everything you need, so eat properly, or else I'll beat some sense into you! And don't think I won't! I know exactly how to deal with a pecky costumer!_

"It’s a wonder her place hasn't burned down." She stopped when Anji gave her a look, "…again, I mean."

_One more thing, I would like to wish you a peaceful year, the both of you, and for things to not weigh down your soul. I know how you are Baiken, I know how brightly and fiercely and recklessly you can burn. Please, just don't burn yourself out, alright? You know how I worry don't you? You don't want that on your conscience do you?_

"This chick is less than half my age and acts like she's my damn _grandma."_

"You _are_ smiling though!"

"Shut it!"

_Right, enough out of me! You just take care of yourself! And have fun!_

_Wishing you the best (and a pleasant meal!),_

_Kuradoberi Jam._

_P.S.: YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD ME HOW TO BAG A HOTTIE LIKE ANJI! I KNOW YOU HAVE A TRICK BECAUSE ANJI CAN'T STOP LOOKING AT YOU-_

Baiken quickly crumpled the letter in her hand, face glowing red, "what is she, a teenager!? Where does she get off being this boy crazy!?" She slammed the balled up letter on the bench with no small amount of force, scaring off a few early bird drunks that were walking near. She looked aside at Anji, face still burning, only to see him with an unbelievably smug smirk on his face.

"A _hottie_ am I?"

" _Don't_ let it get to your head." She groused, looking away and scratching the back of her head, peaking at the crumpled up letter out of the corner of her eye as Anji picked it up and straightened it, "that girl's got noodles for brains, least when it comes to finding a date."

He chuckled as he looked over the letter, "maybe so!" He smiled softly as he reached a certain paragraph, "she's got a good eye for metaphor though," he looked at Baiken with an appreciative glance that made her chest feel tight and warm. "Brightly burning…suits you."

Baiken held his gaze for a long while, the heat in her cheeks refusing to subside, a need to dismiss the notion trying to rise in her throat but failing to go anywhere. Instead she looked back down at the box that started all this, grabbing it to take another peak inside, finding nothing. "So…that's it from this thing?"

"Looks like it," he held up the book and motioned to where she stowed the lucky bag on her person. "All that's left is one last letter, which I'm guessing is from the young, rich sir himself." He looked at her lap, where the last letter sat unassumingly, as if it was there since this morning, catching a few cursive letters in English before she took it in her hand. "Well then? What does our young friend have to say?"

Baiken rolled her eye at him, feeling her blush subside as she looked down at the letter and began reading:

_Hello miss Baiken! It's been a really long time since we spoke hasn't it? Even before the Valentine incidents right? That was rough on everyone, but especially on the Japanese. I've sent a bit of help after the fact, but I'm still feeling a bit guilty that I wasn't there to help myself._

_And help you of course! I heard from Kum you were a real hero there! Good job!_

Baiken's mouth twisted, unsure whether to drop or lift in reaction, before she sighed and kept going.

_When I got the message from Anji about where you were headed (please don't be mad at him for that by the way? We just want you to be happy today!), I REALLY wanted to come over myself, maybe bring along May and Jam and a few others, so we could all party together!_

_Then Jam said she was too busy with her restaurant, and May was too far away, and getting to China from England is more trouble than you would figure…moreover, I remembered how you were, back then, and I guessed a big party wouldn't be you…cup of tea so to speak. So! I came up with this!_

_Kum's charm and Jam's book are pretty nifty huh? Those two are REALLY good at gifts!_

Baiken's lip curled upward without her even noticing, she cleared her throat to get rid of the half smile, some odd feeling raising in her chest.

_Mine is pretty cool too though! It's a magic box! Well, more like a **ki** box, actually. See, its' lid is made of a certain kind of clay from Tibet that reacts to ki. If you infuse it with a bit of ki, it'll shut the box tighter than any lock! And only you can open it! You could put stuff you want to keep safe in there, like money or stuff, since you can't exactly carry around a safe with you._

_Everyone deserves to feel safer about their stuff, right?_

Baiken watched Anji pick up the box and putting the lid back on, before infusing it with his ki. He tugged at the lid for a moment, and it didn't budge an inch. He sent an impressed thumb up at Baiken, who chuckled before continuing to read.

 _Next time you feel like traveling, come visit! You'll always be welcome at the estate, both of you. I really did miss you Baiken, you helped me out more than you think. It doesn't have to be any special occasion either, come by anytime you feel like. I just (_ a few words got crossed out, Bridget having trouble finding the words he wanted to use) _want_ _to make sure you're okay, you know?_

_Anyway, I've been rambling on long enough, right? I'll let you off to enjoy your birthday! Make sure Anji spoils you! But don't eat too much cake! (you'll have stomach ache for WEEKS)_

Baiken let out a full bodied snort at that little remark, Anji grinning wide enough to hear.

_Wishing you the best birthday, with lots of gifts and fun,_

_Bridget._

Baiken looked down at the letter for a long while, head rattling with thoughts and feelings but unable to put them in an order that made sense. She looked at the other two letters, one wishing for her to have hope, the other to be kind to herself, and finally at the last still in her hand, who wished for her to be happy.

A lump formed in Baiken's throat, making her feel ridiculous, only more so when she felt a slight wetness in her eyes which she rubbed away fiercely. She heaved a long sigh and leaned back on the bench, starring ahead at the setting sun, focusing on the blurring reds and yellows that began to slowly give way to purple and blue as late afternoon walked towards nightfall.

"Baiken?"

She looked back at Anji, seeing him gaze at her with some degree of concern, his body visibly letting go of stress, as if he was forcing it to relax so as not to scare her off. This only made the lump in her throat jam itself more firmly, refusing to be ignored. Fuck it, she'll bite the bullet.

"When…" She started, mouth twitching in uncertainty, not looking at Anji as she felt heat crawl up her neck. "When did so many people…start giving a shit about me?"

(She doesn't care if someone judges her, never did, but at this moment, for this question, she only wanted someone who would take her at face value. Someone who would be honest with her, straight to the point when she demands it.

Who better than Anji?)

Quiet stretched between them, the noises of the festival and the people around them fading into the background as she found herself holding her breath for his answer. Was she wrong? Was she seeing things where there was nothing?

Did these letters mean…nothing? They had too, or at least have the wrong idea, none of this makes sense, why would they care if she ate or if she was happy? Why would _any of them_ care?

Anji hummed of a sudden, effectively pulling her out of the mire before she sunk too deep, making a point of scratching his chin in thought, "if I had to guess…" He started lowly, considering. "I would have to say…around the same time _you_ started giving a shit about _them."_

Baiken blinked at him for a short while, taking him in. She searched every inch of his expression for jest, for humor, any hint that he wasn't serious, that he has been just telling her what he thought she wanted to hear.

She looked for that smug air he had as he conned the game stall owner, that feeling he was pulling at strings and pushing her buttons.

Every bit of him was clear as crystal, his eyes unclouded and face straight and serious.

He had no lie for her…at least not now.

She said nothing yet, gathering the letters in her hands and moving her fingers over the edges.

(Bridget clinging to her for a good hour, talking her ear off, begging her to show him how to be tough like her. He looked at her as if she had an answer for everything that plagued him.)

She put the letters on her lap for a moment, grabbing hold of the box and prying open the box lid.

(Jam giving the both of them a discount, seeing the ragged state of their clothes and her mentioning off hand they haven't slept in a week. She looked besides herself with worry born outrage.)

She folded the letters neatly, putting them inside.

(Kum exiting from her "disguise" after putting everything back as it should have been. Standing before her and then kneeling in the dirty, blood drenched grass. She put her head to the ground, not caring for the state of her fine clothes, and croaked out a tired "thank you" before passing out.)

 She put the lid back, letting out a pulse of ki to lock it securely, before putting the box in another pocket on the inside of her kimono, right next to the lucky bag.

(The kids from before, eyes shining with gratitude as they held their two prizes, bowing to her with wide smiles and genuine joy as they rushed off, yelling for their parents to see what the "pretty samurai" won for them.)

Leaning back on the bench again, she once more gazed at the sunset, the colors less blurry then before, coming closer and closer to a unified splash of dark blue. The lump in her throat went down, some sense of peace, of acceptance (however minor), passing through her lungs as she took a deep, cleansing breath.

She closed her eye, feeling the early evening breeze pass through her hair. "Maybe." She allows, after a moment. "It makes sense…I suppose."

"Glad to be of help." He joined her in leaning on the bench and taking in the breeze.

Neither of them said anything, enjoying the moment of peace as families started to filter out of the area and towards a hill a bit further ahead, if Baiken had to guess either to see the sunset, or some last event for the day she didn't care to hear about before.

Now that she thought of it, she was surprised Anji hadn't dragged her there yet. It occurred to her that he might actually keep his end of the bargain and end this nonsense at sunset, leaving her free to depart from this place and find herself a bar.

So long as she didn't say anything stupid…right.

"Almost sundown." She muttered, eye still closed. "If you have anything you would like to do here, better be quick about it."

Anji hummed quietly, "well, yes…but, see that event comes a fair while _after_ sundown." He chuckled lightly, unbothered by missing whatever he had planned last, "a deal is a deal though, and I am a man of my word." He picked himself off from the bench with a groan, rolling his neck. "So, I think I'll leave the rest of the evening to the birthday girl."

She opened her eye, looked at his back as he stretched and looked onwards, towards the grassy hill were it seemed the whole damn city decided to go to. She waited for him to turn to her, smile carefree and inviting.

"…for the sake of argument," she began, wearily, "what _was_ the last thing you had planned for today?"

His smile nearly split his face, his eyes seeming to glow in the dying daylight as he answered with one word, "fireworks!"

Baiken let out a scoff, shaking her head in dismay as she chuckled at him, "seriously? Fireworks to end off my birthday?"

"Why not?" He asked, grin still plastered on his face. "What kind of festival would it be if it didn't end on _fireworks?"_

She eyed him with doubt, the want to wash her hands of this and get drunk growing by the moment. The day had been _long,_ even barring the letters, her feet were sore, her stomach ached from some of the food, and her head was beginning to pound slightly in protest.

"…or we could call it a day?" Anji started, eyeing her worriedly, somehow sensing her reservations. "No need to drag yourself on my account Baiken," she glared at him, he laughed. "Any more than you already did that is!"  

She watched him, watched as his grin shrunk and turned kind and patient, waiting for her.

She sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead.

"Sure, I could go for fireworks."

So much for not saying anything stupid.

His eyes widened and his grin returned tenfold, he grabbed her hand and started power walking towards the hill, Baiken regretting her ill-chosen kindness more and more with every step.

(----)   

Where Anji was keeping a blanket to sit on, she didn't know. But she was glad for it, the grass seemed wetter than it should have, so she sat gratefully on the blanket where Anji spread it out, claiming a 'spot' for them on the hill as families and young friends gathered around them, all holding their breath in anticipation for the coming display.

Baiken hadn't seen fireworks for a good long while, the closest she came to that was when she was out looking for gunpowder for her weapons. Sitting on hill with Anji, she actually found herself looking forward to it, for if there was one thing the Chinese had to be proud of, it was their fireworks.

"If I didn't know any better," Anji teased as he sat himself next to her, "I would think that you were _excited."_

She contemplated jabbing him with her elbow again to get him to be quiet, but the day had exhausted her more than she thought, so she settled for touching her shoulder with his, before leaning on him fully with her head against his. One could hear his teeth clacking against each other as he snapped his mouth shut.

So they sat, quietly watching the moon rise and the lights of the festival dim. Anji had wrapped an arm around her, Baiken adjusting herself to have him hold her more securely. Soon the crowd around them silenced as well, friends calming down their drunk fellows and parents shushing excited children.

An elderly man stood on a stage a distance away from them, shouting into a megaphone to be heard by the gathered crowds. From what Baiken remembered of Cantonese he was saying something about welcoming spring and departing from the last dregs of winter, but she was just tired enough to find it too much trouble parsing words from noise, so she let most of his speech flow right past her to the people behind and around, content to wait.

Soon he was done, and signaled to a few men behind him who stood next to various rockets and as one they began to light fuses.

The night shattered and exploded, shards of color and light falling and scattering among the stars. A flower garden of fireworks bloomed above her, in a thousand shapes and shades, for a moment it seemed to fill the entire world.

Back then, years ago, there was only red and blue violent light tearing through all she knew and all she held dear. The light from back then was a dead thing, a display of death utterly passionless and void of meaning beyond destruction.

Not this, not this work of dedication, surrounded by the whoops of joy and excitement from children and adults alike.

She lost herself in the display, for a moment all she lost was simply waiting for her elsewhere, for a moment, shorter than a heartbeat, she was…no, not whole, not even happy.

She was, for the first time in a while, for less than a heartbeat, at peace.

Soon, the moment ended, the light continued to burst above her, but she was back on the ground. She was sitting on a ratty old blanket her partner found who knows where on some grassy hill, watching a fireworks display being put on by some no name town she will probably forget in a week or two.

Still, it was damn good fireworks.

"Worth missing happy hour?"

"Only barely." She answered automatically, making herself more comfortable on his shoulder before letting out a content breath. "We _are_ still finding something to drink though." She lifted her head from his to turn to him with a smirk. "And you're _paying_ for…for…"

Her train of thought sped off ahead of her, leaving her lacking in words as she stared at him, or, rather, what he was holding in his hand. The darkness of the early evening, only briefly illuminated by multicolored splashes from the sky, made it hard to see, but from she did see, it looked like he was offering her a small Sakura branch.

"Happy birthday Baiken." He whispered, only barely audible over the fireworks, as he handed her the branch, cold metal kissing her palm as she took it. She moved it around her fingers, stopping when a shred of blue light caught a pointed tip. "Not bad eh? Couldn't have those three upstage me, now could I?"

"I…" She found her tongue sluggish and unwilling to respond for a moment before she let out a scoff that sounded like a laugh. "I thought all _this,"_ she motioned towards the crowd and the fireworks, "was my present."

"Nonsense." He waved her off easily, almost insulted. "Today was your _party_ , which was a result of divine coincidence." He purposefully ignored her clicking her tongue at him. "What you have _there_ , I had been planning to give you for a long while now."

She fought a losing battle with a smile as she looked his gift over, slowly realizing what it was, "but…a _hairpin?"_

"Not just _any_ hairpin!" He announced with glee, pointing to the thing metal end, "but a stiletto knife _disguised_ as a Sakura hairpin!" He spread his arms out in pride, "if you ever find yourself needing to surrender your sword, you'll always have a backup!" He grinned in satisfaction. "And in the meantime, you have something lovely that compliments your hair _perfectly._ "

"Anji…"

"Practical _and_ fashionable!" He went on, pulling out a familiar looking metal hand fan, "just like _this_ little number you got me this year!"

Baiken stilled as she saw the fan, her face heating up at the remainder that he was still carrying around her silly little gift. She doesn't think she saw him use that thing in a fight even _once_ so far, depending on Zessen, but still he refused to part with it, walking everywhere with it to show it off.

She looked back down on her gift, moving the sharp tip between her fingers, and even pricking her thumb to check how sharp it was. (Very, it would seem, freshly sharpened even.) She laughed, not sure about what to do with all this _noise_ that decided to flock around in her chest, before looking at him again, "when…when was the last time I ever used a damn hairpin?"

"Never, if I remember correctly." Anji answered cheerily, scaring another laugh out of her, "but…never too late to try something new, right?"

He was looking at her with a hopeful little smile, eyes shining and cautious.    

She brought the pin up to eye level, taking in every minute detail. What she thought were Sakura petals were actually made of metal themselves, and shone with the fireworks. They were heavily detailed, tiny patterns etched into them everywhere she looked. The knife seemed to emerge from the petals like a root, naturally growing out until it thinned at its razor sharp point.

Must have cost him a pretty penny, and it made her head throb for a moment, before she laughed despite herself, holding the pin close to her heart as she looked at him again with an amused smirk. "Well…help me put it in then?"

Anji grinned even wider. "I'd love to."

He gently plucked the pin from her, removing the tie holding her pony tail, letting her hair fall all around her face, before he gathered it into a loose bun at the crown of her head, and slowly putting in the pin to hold it together.

He leaned back to look at her, eyes widening before growing soft, the light of the fireworks washing his face in shades of bright blue and green.

"How…how does it look?"

He smiled wide at her, eyes shining both with affection and the exploding lights above them, "beautiful." He muttered, reaching out with one hand to cup her cheek, slowly leaning towards her. " _You're_ beautiful."

This is the part where she would say something sharp, something rusty and bloody to disengage. Where she would dismiss him utterly and thank him coldly and get up and find herself something to drink and try with all her might to forget this gentle flame licking at her heart. This is the part where she would go to sleep so drunk the first she would do in the morning is throw up, and never speak of tonight ever again.

He would let her, she knew, would let her lean away and end it before it began. He would smile in the morning if she did that, he would play along, he would join in her in pretending tonight never happened. Pretending that she always had that Sakura hairpin.

She didn't do that.

Instead, she closed her eye, and met him half way.

It was hardly their first kiss, but she couldn't remember the last time their kisses were this…quiet, this gentle. She was used to the kisses that came with sex, hungry and angry and demanding, leaving her breathless and gasping and fired up.

This was a simple press of lips, gentle and unhurried. The world could wait, the world didn't matter, the _coward_ and his monsters didn't matter. There was only them, at this moment, on the hill, kissing under the bloom of the fireworks.

By the time they finished, the fireworks had died down, and people had begun to grab their things to leave, but she couldn't find it in her to join them. She leaned her forehead against Anji, to content, to calm to move away.

"Can we stay here?" She asked quietly, her gaze peering into his, the moon shining in his eyes. "For a while longer?"

"For as long as you want." He whispered, adoring, in devotion, utterly at her mercy. "We'll stay here till morning if you wish."

That broke the spell a bit, and she laughed at him. She leaned back to share another quick kiss, feeling him lean into her. "Don't push yourself." She said, a bit breathless, pecking him again with a smile. "Not going to sleep on a grassy hill tonight, got a perfectly good inn room remember?"

He laughed at himself for a moment, leaning away to wrap his hand around her and bury his face in her hair. "Of course." He took a deep breath of her, letting out in a content sigh as he held her a bit tighter. "Of course…"

She buried her face in the crook of his neck, letting herself indulge a bit in the embrace. "Thank you…for today." She leaned more heavily against him with a sigh of her own, "I know I didn't act like it…but it was actually pretty fun, so…thank you, really."

He was quiet for a long time, tightening his grip on her, as if to make sure she was actually there, in his arms with him under the stars. Finally, he placed a kiss in her hair, "anytime."

She tried to find more words to say, to thank him, tell him how much today meant. How much she needed those letters, how light her heart felt all day with him, but she could find nothing that was enough.

Instead she sighed, placed her forehead on his collarbone, "planning a birthday for you next year is gonna be a headache."

Again, he was quiet, before he chuckled softly, "let me ask you something, a little less than a year from now, when I wake up on the morning of my birthday, will you be the first thing I see?"

Her throat clogged up, but she refused to sound chocked so she cleared her throat before she answered. "Probably."

"Then don't worry about it."

This time, with her face burning to her ears, she allowed the silence to cover them both, letting her birthday end on a quiet note.

The moon shone fully and brightly above them, and for just a moment, for less than a heartbeat, she needed nothing more.


End file.
